Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Last week of summer finals and the archaeology headlines are rolling in. While you’re reading the archaeology news for the day, I’ll be catching up on the Medieval torture weapons used on those who dared challenge the party line of local government authorities or the church with “abnormal” gender behavior. Sex and Gender class is a hoot!

Archaeological bicycling tour begins at Fort Pickens

The Destination Archaeology Resource Center (DARC) and the Gulf Island National Seashore will launch a new program, “Tour de Fort,” on Saturday, Aug. 27. “Tour de Fort” is a bicycling tour of the archaeological sites along the Florida National Scenic Trail near Fort Pickens as part of the national campaign “Let’s Move Outside!”

Tomb of Jesus' Apostle Found In Turkey?

The tomb of Saint Philip, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, might have been unearthed in southwestern Turkey, according to Italian archaeologists who have been excavating the area for decades.

Project to map ancient landscape of England may reveal burial grounds under your house

Sign of Advancing Society? An Organized War Effort

Some archaeologists have painted primitive societies as relatively peaceful, implying that war is a reprehensible modern deviation. Others have seen war as the midwife of the first states that arose as human population increased and more complex social structures emerged to coordinate activities.

Ancient Anasazi site excavated along new highway route

Archaeologists working with the Utah Department of Transportation are nearing completion of the excavation of a significant archaeological site outside of St. George. Five Virgin Anasazi habitations at one of the sites located within the new Southern Parkway corridor have been found, including one which may have been built as early as 2,000 years ago.

Agency archaeology: Dig near Absarokee reveals Crow history

For nine years, from 1875 to 1884, the Crow tribe set down roots even as it grappled with a new way of life and a shrinking homeland. Shifting from a nomadic existence to a sedentary, agricultural one, tribal members battled disease and wrestled with the loss of their main food source, the buffalo.

Prince Charles visits Nybster broch in Caithness

Archaeologists and volunteers have been uncovering the remains of the stone roundhouse that could date back to 700 to 500 BC at Nybster in Caithness. Prince Charles stopped off at the site and visited Caithness General Hospital in Wick on a tour of the far north.

Archaeologist confirms 2,000-year-old relics safe in Phuket

The Thaland National Museum in Phuket, Thailand responds to allegations that beads excavated in 2005 are missing – they were taken off the display stands for research.

Two partially mummified bodies discovered at Mexico’s Giant’s Cave

Two partially mummified bodies were discovered at the burial ground located in Mexico’s Giant’s Cave. The remains are thought to be between 800 and 1,000 years old.

Archaeology Headlines From Archaeology Magazine

The York Archaeological Trust continues to study the skeletons unearthed between 2004 and 2005 at Driffield Terrace. “Arguments continue as to whether they were trained fighters, soldiers who died in battle, whether they were executed or whether the unusual aspects of their burial reflect a group with unusual religious views,” explained Sarah Maltby.

England’s “Portal to the Past” project will compile all available data into a digital archive of maps and information from the Bronze Age through 1086. “We hope this project will provide an in-depth analysis of the whole of England, so we can glean new insights into how the landscape has changed and developed,” said Chris Gosden of the University of Oxford.

Archaeologists from the University of South Alabama have surveyed the Old Federal Road, which connected Augusta, Georgia, to Mobile, Alabama, 200 years ago.

The fossilized skull of a 20 million-year-old primate, Ugandapithecus major, has been found in Uganda.

South Africa’s Pinnacle Point was the home to a few surviving Homo sapiens between 164,000 and 120,000 years ago, according to Curtis Marean of Arizona State University. He says that Stone Age people tracked the moon’s phases in order to harvest shellfish and that they engaged in ritual activities. “Our excavations may have intercepted ancient people who shadowed the shifting shoreline and are the ancestors of everyone on the planet,” he said.

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